Baumbach's most unjustly overlooked film, and the one where the Woody Allen influence is at its most legible, which is funny, because Baumbach was my entry point into Allen in the first place. I came looking for more of what Baumbach does, and found the source. the debt is clearest here.
what makes it work is the writing. there are no real jokes, yet the film is consistently funny, the humor lives entirely in the precision of the dialogue and the oddity of the situations, the way intelligent people articulate neurotic impulses with complete earnestness.
Chris Eigeman is, predictably, wonderful, he arrived fully formed somewhere in the Stillman films and has never really needed to adjust. what I found myself most drawn to, though, is the Lester-Dashiell dynamic. male cattiness is an almost entirely unexplored register in fiction.

Baumbach's most unjustly overlooked film, and the one where the Woody Allen influence is at its most legible, which is funny, because Baumbach was my entry point into Allen in the first place. I came looking for more of what Baumbach does, and found the source. the debt is clearest here.
what makes it work is the writing. there are no real jokes, yet the film is consistently funny, the humor lives entirely in the precision of the dialogue and the oddity of the situations, the way intelligent people articulate neurotic impulses with complete earnestness.
Chris Eigeman is, predictably, wonderful, he arrived fully formed somewhere in the Stillman films and has never really needed to adjust. what I found myself most drawn to, though, is the Lester-Dashiell dynamic. male cattiness is an almost entirely unexplored register in fiction.

I don’t have the intellectual capacity to write a well thought out review, so instead I will list things I liked:
Vince’s British accent reveal
Lester sprinting to Ramona’s house bc she didn’t answer the phone 
Dashiell getting a coat like Lester’s 
New York 
Whistling
“Are you jealous of yourself” 
Overall, it’s a movie I shouldn’t relate to, but unfortunately I do.

I don’t have the intellectual capacity to write a well thought out review, so instead I will list things I liked:
Vince’s British accent reveal
Lester sprinting to Ramona’s house bc she didn’t answer the phone 
Dashiell getting a coat like Lester’s 
New York 
Whistling
“Are you jealous of yourself” 
Overall, it’s a movie I shouldn’t relate to, but unfortunately I do.

Only on the 2nd movie in his filmography, but 90s Baumbach feels like that era sitcom meets teen drama meets Aaron Sorkin. The optimism, nostalgia and smarminess is nice. Clever and relatable to an extent but somehow this set of characters that are broad strokes the same people from his first movie couldn’t be less likable.

Only on the 2nd movie in his filmography, but 90s Baumbach feels like that era sitcom meets teen drama meets Aaron Sorkin. The optimism, nostalgia and smarminess is nice. Clever and relatable to an extent but somehow this set of characters that are broad strokes the same people from his first movie couldn’t be less likable.

Baby Noah Baumbach, but it’s so infused with his creativity style I kinda got to respect it. It’s always interesting to see where famous directors got their start

Baby Noah Baumbach, but it’s so infused with his creativity style I kinda got to respect it. It’s always interesting to see where famous directors got their start

Baumbach falls into a little bit of a sophomore slump with this one. Once again all the characters are, intentionally, obnoxious, but the writing and dialogue continues to show promise. I’m just excited to get to the Greta/Baumbach projects.

Baumbach falls into a little bit of a sophomore slump with this one. Once again all the characters are, intentionally, obnoxious, but the writing and dialogue continues to show promise. I’m just excited to get to the Greta/Baumbach projects.